Die Tonight, Live Forever
by I'm.Good.I'm.Gone
Summary: Keeley is a usual American woman, except she has an issue. She's got a phobia, and it's not your typical 'I'm afraid of spiders' kind either. It's Sanguivoriphobia; the fear of blood-eaters, or vampires. Try to explain that to an 1000 year-old vampire.
1. Prologue

Prologue

**A/N:** I do not own True Blood, nor Charlaine Harris' wonderful Sookie Stackhouse books, I'm purely going off on the show here. Comment if you like the prologue, I want to hear your imput (even though Eric isn't in it yet). But, by god, don't let this comment make you not want to read it anymore because dear Eric Northman isn't in it. He will be soon, I promise. :)

* * *

Do you ever feel like you're constantly being watched by random people on the streets? Well, it's because you are, not to scare you or anything but it's normal for people to stare. I know I do it, and I'm not ashamed to say it. I _love_ staring at people, and trying to figure them out. It just makes my day seem a lot... I dunno, more exciting? No, less boring is more like it. I usually get called a creeper by my close friends, but I don't care it's who I am. Although it feels weird when you're watching someone, and they watch you right back, as if they _know_ what you're doing. It's like—

"Oww! What the hell Kenny, I said _later_ you bastard!" I rubbed the side of my head where Kenny had whacked the volleyball, and glared at one of my best friends. He shrugged and then laughed when I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Hey, chickie. We're going to that new vampire club that just opened yesterday. You in?" Hayley strolled over and smiled, showing off her fake fangs that she spent quite a lot of money on at the dentists.

"No, I don't want to get near any of those blood suckers, Hay. You know how I feel about blood and vampires." I shuddered, and looked away as she bared her fangs at me. I don't understand why she spent her life's saving on those nasty looking things, they were creepy as shit.

"Yeah I know, but why not come with us. I mean, it's your last night in Chicago and everyone wants to spend it with you. You're the group favourite; it'll be weird without you here." Hayley pouted and clasped her hands together. "Come on, Keeley."

"No. I'm sorry Hay, but I have to pack tonight." I picked myself up from the sand and brushed my sandy legs off.

Ever since the vampires came out of the coffin, people have been obsessed with them. Well, it's not like they weren't obsessed _before_, but it's gotten even crazier. I, thankfully, am deathly afraid of them and don't _ever_ want to be near them. I've always been afraid of bloodsuckers, and it wasn't until I was searching around on the internet that I found that I had a phobia. Sanguivoriphobia; the fear of blood-eaters, or in my terms blood-_suckers_. My friends call me delusional, I call myself special.

"You're a bitch, you know that right?" Hayley grumbled and followed me to where our friends were playing volleyball.

"But, you love me, right?" I gave her a cheesy smile and she hissed at me, including the fangs, and I jumped back scared.

"Fuck you, you bitch!" I picked up sand from the ground and threw it at my laughing best friend, who ended up dodging it and running away. I grumbled and pulled at my hair, wishing I was never leaving Chicago for the whole summer to live in Bon Temps. Who cares that the great-aunt I never even knew died, my mother still insisted that I went with her, and to visit the 'family' as well.

"Keeley, watch out!" Once again, the volleyball smacked into the side of my face, but this time I fell to the ground shocked. Upon hearing the waves of thundering laughter, I thought of how boring my life was going to be without my colourful friends to be there for me, and to support me when I was upset or hurt.

"Can someone help me up?" I hollered, and then groaned as I sat up slowly. _Oh God, I hope I don't have a concussion._

"Get up yourself you lazy ass."

Or not.

—

"Keeley! I said to answer the phone!" My mother hollered, as the phone continued ringing. I ignored my mother, knowing that it was my father calling, thanks to the magical thing called caller i.d., and continued reading my magazine and finishing off my mother's homemade ice tea.

"_Keeley! _You answer that phone _right now_ or else!" My mother shrieked, startling me so much that I dropped my iced tea and I watched as it splattered to the floor, and get soaked up into the carpet.

I cleaned up what I could with a towel before I picked up the phone making sure I let out a bored sigh into the phone, "What do you want, Richard?"

"_Keeley? I'm your father, and I don't appreciate it when you call me otherwise. Where is your mother?_"

"She doesn't want to speak to right now. We're about to catch a flight... Sooo, what does it feel like to be divorced? Good? Great? Spectacular? Oh and how's your girlfriend? Y'know, the one you cheated on with mom? Is she still the glamorizing bloodsucker as always, or has she been staked yet?" I looked at my nails and grimaced when I noticed the nail polish on the tip of my pointer finger had chipped off from my otherwise perfect nails.

"_Keeley, don't start with me on that. Your mother and I agreed to separate because we just weren't compatible anymore. You know that. You've seen it. Now, can I speak to your mother? I don't want to cause any more trouble, but I have something to tell her and it's fairly important."_ Richard sighed, and I could just picture the frown lines on his once handsome face, and the two puncture spots on his neck from the blood-sucker Serena. That fucking leech was the whole reason my parents split up, and I was unregretful of the day I saw them together in bed. I was finally able to show my mother what a lying sack of shit my father was.

"No, and stop calling." I slammed the receiver onto its base and let out a shaky breath.

"...Keeley?" My mother slowly walked forward, but I spared her the last steps as I flung myself into her open arms.

"Are you done packing?" My mother asked gently, smoothing my hair down and pressing little kisses onto the crown of my head. I nodded against her chest and wiped my eyes on her blouse.

"Okay, let's call a taxi. I just need to unplug the answering machine, m'kay?" My mother smiled brokenly at me and pulled me in for another hug. "I love you, Keeley. And don't you forget that, okay?"

I nodded and let her go to finish packing up the rest of my things into a small carry-on bag. I looked around my room and sighed tiredly, then attempted to lift up my two suitcases with the carry on around my shoulders. I managed to get down one step of the hallway stairs before losing my footing and dropping the suitcases down the steep stairway.

"Keeley?!" My mother came running into the room but sighed in relief when she saw me, "Oh thank God, I thought it was you that fell down those steps."

"Mom, stop worrying over little things. Look, I'm fine. Can we just get to wherever we need to go?" I ran a shaky hand through my hair, trying not to show how scared I was about nearly falling and cracking my head open on the stairs.

"Well, you _know_ how clumsy you are. I just worry that one day you're going to kill yourself."

"How the hell am I going to kill myself when you're around me 24/7? Mom, I'm twenty-one. I'm not your little girl anymore." _I don't even know why I'm still living here._ I added silently in my head, wishing I had the nerve to say it out loud to my mother.

I heard a loud beeping sound outside, and I flew down the stairs to gather my things. "We're not missing anything, right?" I could tell my mother was counting off a list of things in her head, and I snapped my fingers in front of her face instantly breaking off her thoughts.

"No, we're not missing anything. Can we just go now?" I looked over at the door and gave my mother an impatient look.

"Darling, you could have gone ahead of me y'know." Her light Louisiana accent became a little more pronounced when frustrated, and she stared at me incredulously, her hands on her hips.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes and picked up my stuff and headed toward the cab where the driver took my belongings and placed them into the trunk.

"Thank you." I smiled politely, before jumping into the cab.

_I wonder what Bon Temps is going to be like...Hopefully not some stuck-up hick town._ I thought with a smile, looking over as my mother tried to tell the driver that she could carry her own belongings herself.

And oh boy was I ever right.

* * *

**A/N # 2: **This is my first fanfic so be gentle on me. :) I really love True Blood, it's just one of those shows you want to sink your teeth into (no pun intended). I came about this show when I was watching WhatTheBuck on youtube (funny, huh? I love Michael Buckley!), and when I found the episodes online (curse you rogers cable for not having HBfreakingO!) I instantly fell in love. There are not much Eric stories out there, and I just _had_ to write one. Alexander Skarsgård is one helluva hottie. Hehe.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**A/N:** I do not own True Blood, nor Charlaine Harris' wonderful Sookie Stackhouse books, I'm purely going off on the show here. Also, I'd like to point out that I'm taking bits and peices from the show, and I wrote this chapter before Bill and Sookie left for Dallas. Just to let you know. :)

* * *

"Mary! Oh! _Look_ at you! You look _so_ good! Oh my Gosh, I can't _believe _I haven't seen you since you were eighteen! Why haven't you visited _sooner_?"

_Wow, way too much emphasis in one sentence._ I cringed as the lady pulled me into her arms and squeezed tight, "And this must be Keeley! You look so much like your mother it's kinda scary."

_Sadly, I look like my father you annoying bitch_. I tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. I looked around myself and tried not to pant. Holy Mary mother of _Jesus_ it was hot here. I wiped at my forehead and swatted a fly away from my face. "Why the hell is it so hot?"

"Honey, you're not in Chicago anymore! It's hotter than a Dockers armpit here in Bon Temps, and it's not about to change anytime soon, sweet cheeks." I watched in disgust as my mother's cousin pulled at her sweat-soaked shirt, and fanned herself with her chubby hand.

I placed my hand over my eyes to block out the Sun and groaned, "Mom is there any place to eat? I'm fucking starving." I looked over at my mother who frowned at my choice of words, and my mother's cousin (Would she technically be my cousin as well?) opened her mouth in shock.

"That is _not_ how a young lady should talk, Mary-Ann Pickens! I expected that Keeley was raised properly since you became a fine young woman yourself, but your daughter's potty mouth will _not_ be tolerated in _my _home." I tuned the woman out when I heard my mother's full name and looked around the front yard that we were standing on. A few people came out of their home's to see what the ruckus was about, and I hefted my slipping carry-on bag higher onto my shoulder.

"Mom, we could just stay at a hotel." _I'd rather sleep_ _with dogs, than in this woman's house_ I thought with a smirk, watching as my mother's cousin's face (_What_ was her name again?) went from shock, to anger.

"If your grandfather were still here, bless his soul, he'd know what to do with that dirty mouth of yours." My mother's cousin warned, giving me a fierce stare that had me quivering. **Not.**

My mother remained in an odd, quiet state, and I was getting _pretty_ annoyed with the luggage I was hauling around everywhere, "Mom?"

"Yes, honey?" My mother snapped out of her daze, and met my eyes.

"I hate this town."

"_Oh_!" My mother's chubby cousin exclaimed, her face turning an odd shade of red.

"Let's just..." My mother trailed off as she pulled me away from her fuming cousin, and waved at the couple just across the street before tugging me toward the car we rented.

"Hey, can we go get something to eat? I'm starving." I nearly fell over as she gave a vicious tug on my arm so that I was facing her.

"Don't you _dare_ disrespect your family like that _ever_ again, understand?" When I looked at her oddly she sighed and tugged a hand through her white blonde hair, "I'm sorry, it's a little overwhelming to see my family again after twenty-eight years."

"Mom, this is the first person we've seen in Bon Temps that's family. She's annoying as hell..." I trailed off as my mother gave me a stern look. I followed up with a feign look of innocence, "What? It's true."

"Mary-Ann Pickens?! Is that _you?_" I groaned and leaned against the hot car. I knew I was acting like a petulant child, but who the hell wants to live in a place like this? I mean, _thank_ God my mother left Bon Temps to go to some prestigious college in Chicago.

"Uh..." My mother frowned and awkwardly hugged the person who clung to her.

"Oh, silly! It's me, Sue... From high school?" My mother blinked before recognition hit, and pulled her into a hug again while they both screamed. I grimaced again and went to search my carry-on for my sun glasses.

"Kill me now." I sighed, watching the two women talk. Instantly, my phone began to ring and the sound of Fannypack's Hey Mami blasted. The women looked over at me with a frown (My mother never liked my choice of music...) as I searched my bag for my phone, "_Hello_?" To eager, I cleared my throat, "Hello?"

"_Hey chickie!_" Hayley yelled, causing me to pull the phone from my ear.

"Hey, Hay. How's everyone? I miss you guys." My mother was finally saying goodbye to her friend, and I sighed in relief.

"_Oh, they're all great. We all miss you too_."I felt a pang of homesickness deep in my stomach, and unconsciously rubbed my stomach, watching my mother heft our luggage back into the trunk.

I moved to the passenger side of the car, and instantly felt a wave of heat hit my face as I opened the door. I sighed, "There's _nothing_ here, Hay. I don't think I can survive living here for the summer. I think I'm going to ask my mom if I can go back..." I trailed off as I sat on the passenger seat, not wanting my mother to listen in on the conversation.

"_Good, because living in ole hicktown can't be good for your complexion. Poor baby's going to get sunburnt. Make sure you put _lots_ of sunscreen on,_" Hayley laughed, and I heard her shuffling around, "_At least you know that there aren't going to be any vampires there_."

"Yeah." I could practically feel the sweat rivulets dripping down my face, I wiped at them with the back of my forearm.

"Well, gotta go sweets. Me and Kenny are going to check out the new Orange Julius that just opened in the Dairy Queen around the corner."

"'Kay, bye." Hay hung up on me, and I sighed for the 100th time today.

"Still feel like eating? Sue told me a few good spots around here."

I looked over at my mother and nodded, "Yeah, sure."

—

"So this was the 'good spot' your friend suggested?" I looked around Merlotte's in distaste, and eyed the dead animal heads at the bar. It was almost sun down, and I was instantly relieved that night-time in this town wasn't as hot as the afternoons.

"Best food in town, she said. You said you wanted to eat, so here we are..." My mother smiled as people stared, probably wondering who we were and why I was looking around the place in disgust.

"Alright," I sighed, and headed for a booth near the back. Keeping my eyes averted from the people who were staring at me, I threw myself into the booth and ran a hand through my wavy elbow-length copper hair. My mother gracefully sat down in front of me, and smothered everyone with her smile.

"You look like you just had fifteen Botox injections." I played with the condiments on the table, trying hard not to laugh.

"One day, that mouth of yours will get you in a heap of trouble if you're not careful." My mother warned, and I just snorted. _Right, like I can get into trouble in _this_ hick town._ I thought before a waitress came to our table.

"What can I get you?" A pretty blonde woman asked, her pen and a pad of paper poised and ready to take our order.

My mother glanced at the menu that she took from the table top, "I'll get the cheeseburger, fries and a diet coke please." The waitress took down the order, and looked at me with a weird smile.

_God, is _everyone_ crazy in this town?_ I heard giggling and looked up confused as the waitress bit her lip, "Not everyone, but a good amount of people are."

I stared at the waitress with wide eyes, "I'll just get some fries and a glass of iced tea..."

"Alright, I'll be back with your drinks soon." The girl bounced away, leaving me with the notion that everyone _was_ crazy in this town.

"Did you see that, Mom?" I hissed, looking at my mother with wide eyes.

"What, honey?" My mother picked at her nails, and I slapped her hand away from them to get her attention.

"She totally _just _read my mind, Mom. It was so _awesomesauce_, I totally wish I could read minds. Fuckin A, dude, fuckin A." I laughed and looked over at the waitress as she talked to a scruffy looking guy wearing a blue and white farmer's shirt.

"I really wish you'd stop talking like that. Not only does it embarrass me, but you sound like a sixteen year old." My mother rebuked, clucking her tongue like she always does. I simply rolled my eyes, and stared at the ceiling, as if asking God _why_ my mother was so daft.

"Mom, I've talked like this since I was in high school. It's not like I just picked it up a few hours ago, I thought you'd at least get used to it by now," _The people I hang out with don't exactly aid to this matter either._

"Well, that doesn't mean that I have to like it." She mumbled, and continued to pick at her nails.

"Here are your drinks," The waitress smiled, placing our drinks on the table. My mother smiled and gave a polite thank you, I stared at the waitress.

"How long were you able to read minds?" I leaned my arms on the table and smiled at the girl.

"Uh,"

"Keeley!" My mother hissed warningly, kicking my shin underneath the table, "Stop this foolish notion this instant."

"Shut up, Mom. So?" My eyes didn't waver, and I didn't even flinch when my mother kicked me.

"As long as I can remember, how'd you know I could read minds?" The waitress smiled and tilted her head ever so slightly when she regarded my earlier question.

I shrugged, "Besides the fact that you answered my _thought_ question, my friend claimed that she could read minds as well. Although she was lying, I've always believed that there were more weird things out there besides vampires." The room suddenly became quiet, and I stared around in confusion. It was as if I just screamed I was Death himself. "Is everyone alright?"

The waitress looked around the room as well, "Folks around here are a little touchy about the subject of vampires."

"...Okay. Hey, I didn't catch your name...?"

"Sookie, Sookie Stackhouse." The waitress smiled and held out her hand, to which I grabbed and shook lightly.

"Nice to meet you Sookie, I'm Keeley Pickens." I never used my father's last name after my parents had the divorce because I never favoured my father. We constantly got into bickers when I was younger, which led to me getting punished and getting sent into the basement to get locked up there until my mother got home from work at midnight. I blamed her for not getting rid of him sooner, using an affair to finally free herself of the asshole. Twenty-one years too late.

She pulled her hand away, and smiled before turning to leave, "Wait." I called standing up and following her.

"I'm sorry if I was a little forward. I've always been like that, and I'm sorry if I startled you or any—" I halted and the breath whooshed out of my lungs as I saw who, no _what,_ was at the door.

"Bill!" Sookie smiled, putting her tray down on an unused table and walked over to the vampire.

I watched horrified as the vampire's gaze landed on me. I couldn't move, I felt as if my legs were cemented to the ground. I knew everyone was staring at me, but I couldn't keep the horrified expression off my face.

"Bill, this is Keeley. She's new in town." Sookie blinked confusedly at my shocked face, and the bloodsucker even had the nerve to smile at me!

"Hello, it's nice—" I ignored what he said, and felt myself ready to faint. My vision came in black splotchy patterns, and I became lightheaded. _Oh, God I'm going to faint._

"Bill, she's—!"

—

I groaned and ran my fingers through my hair, feeling for the bump that was inevitably going to be there, "Mom?"

"Yes, honey?" I felt my mother's hand wrap around mine, and I tried to pull away. My mother chuckled, and took her hand away, patting my leg, "She's going to be fine, guys."

"Please tell me the vampire isn't in this room." I hadn't opened my eyes yet, and the feeling of dread overcame me as no one answered my question, which meant the vampire must be in the room.

"Bill, I think you should step out for a while."

_Oh, God. Oh, God. I'm going to have a panic attack._ I began breathing loudly, as if I were about to hyperventilate.

"I said leave, Bill. She's going to be fine!" Sookie said sternly, and I instantly wished I was back in Chicago, drinking an Orange Julius with my buds and not having to worry about running into a vampire. I mean, there are vampires in _this_ town? Oh my God, they're everyfuckingwhere.

"Sweetie, you didn't tell me you were 'fraid of vampires." My mother clucked, pushing my coppery hair from my face and making me feel like I was a six year-old who scraped her knee, all over again. Smothering me, like she always does.

I tried to push myself up, but failed when the light pounding of the headache I woke up to, blossomed into a raging hammering sensation that had me moaning and laying back down. My eyes never once opened, afraid that the blinding light in this room was going to pop a blood vessel in my brain and cause serious damage. Like becoming a comatose, lifeless husk, ready for my plug to be pulled. Oh no_, I'm starting to go crazy!_

"I'd expect you to feel like that. Your noggin took such a smackin' on the ground that you nearly had me in hysterics. And not the good kind either. Although, it was pretty comical for you to faint at the sight of Bill. That man wouldn't hurt a fly."

"You're such a great mom," I added sarcastically, rubbing at the large bump, mixing a wince and hiss together to show my unequivocal displeasure of falling and smacking my head on anything and everything, "I can't believe you were kind enough to get me an icepack as well." My voice was dripping in sarcasm now. I should get a "Fond of Sarcasm" award for showcasing my wonderful talent. _Oh God_, I'm _really_ starting to go crazy now. This hick town is messing up my Chicagoan stature. I need to talk to a _sane_ Chicagoan female, namely Hayley. But she'd probably tell me to, "Stick it, and solve your own damn problems!". I really love my friends. I heard Sookie laugh lightly and instantly knew she was reading my thoughts.

"_Oh,_" My mother cried, "I'm so sorry sweetie. I just wanted to wait a few minutes until you woke up to see if you had a concussion or something," She stood up and brushed herself off and I turned my head to look at her with one previously closed eye, "It _totally_ blew my mind that you needed an ice pack." Ideally, I thought my mother was mocking me, but turned out she was, in fact, serious and I felt my lips cracking into a smile.

"You totally just talked like me, it was kind of jarring." I laughed licking my dry lips, still trying to forget the fact that a vampire was just outside the room, who was the cause of my fainting spell.

I watched my mother leave the room with her promise to find me an icepack. She even added a, "Don't you go _any_where young lady, or I will purposely hurt you." before leaving. As if I were able to leave, let alone get up in my current state. _Mothers_, you gotta love 'em. "Where am I?" I asked no one in particular a few minutes later.

"Um, you're in Sam, my boss' office." Sookie smiled politely, with a hint of pity-ness in there.

I hummed, "Explains why I'm still on the floor." I felt around on the ground to see that I had several jackets underneath me and I laughed, "What, no blankets around here?"

"Well, we just put something down there so you weren't lying on the ground. I could ask Sam to—"

I laughed and shook my head, instantly regretting that action and put a shaking hand to cover my eyes, "I was _kidding_ Sookie."

"You are very weird, Keeley Pickens. Pickens...Why does that name sound familiar?" Sookie questioned, and her face took on this weird concentrated/constipated look as she stared at me. _Awkward._

"...Do you need to go to the washroom or something?" When Sookie broke off her train of thought to stare at me oddly, I blushed and covered my face with my hands laughing. "Sorry, I'm just weird like that. I tend to blurt out the oddest things when awkward silences ensue after a conversation."

"_Pickens!_" I jumped, clearly startled as she took on this triumphant look, as if she solved a murder mystery, "You're related to _Maudette_ Pickens! This is unbelievable," She put her hands on her hips and let out a peculiar huff, "And how weird is it that she was obsessed with vampires, and you are terrified of them."

"_One_: Ouch, at the fact that you nearly blew out my eardrums. _Two:_ Who the hell is Maudette Pickens? I've never even heard of her before, and _three:_ Was?" I blinked a few times, wishing my mother would bring the icepack already and possibly throw in some painkillers as well. This headache wasn't going to go away until I take something chalk full of medicine, which incidentally tasted like chalk too. ...Not that I would _chew _on them or anything. That's just crazy talk.

"Sorry for scaring you. Maudette Pickens was this girl who passed away a few months back...someone killed her for socializing and involving herself with vampires, but not to worry because he also died a few months back as well. I—" She broke off her sentence and looked at the ground, I instantly thought she was going to cry, but she lifted her head and smiled even though I could clearly seen the wet sheen of tears she was barely holding back.

"Sook?" The door opened slightly, and I could hear that wretched vampire's voice, my eyes widened and I felt my breath catch.

"Bill, not now. I'm fine, nothing to be worried about. Can't you tell the girl is terrified of you?" Sookie tsked, and left the room while pushing Bill out.

I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, and ran a hand through my hair, _really_ wishing I had my phone right now. "Here you go sweetie." My mother came in and held a bag of slightly melted ice and two painkillers from my carry-on in front of me. I grabbed the painkillers first, swallowing them dry and then held the icepack to my head.

"Y'know, what happens if I get a concussion the next time I fall asleep and then I'll wake up with no memory whatsoever. Oh my God, I'll be like that girl in the news who smacked her head with another girl's while playing basketball, and then lost her memory _including_ how to speak and write." My mother's eyes just kept getting wider and wider and then next thing I knew, she was slapping her knee with laughter, taking in deep gasping breaths.

"What is going on in there?" I heard a deep voice rumble, and it sent shivers down my spine.

"Eric, I wouldn't go in there." I heard Bill's voice command lightly, and I began shaking. _Why was he talking like that?_

"Nonsense, if she is the person who has delayed our meeting. Then I must meet her." The door opened and a tall, pale-faced man appeared, who was also very much a vampire.

"Eric!" Sookie hissed, from the doorway.

My eyes widened as I looked up at the vampire and I dropped the icepack. My mouth opened and I let out an ear piercing scream nearly rattling my own brain.

My mother covered her ears, and turned her back to me. I already knew my mother hated my shrieking, she was still not used to it even after raising me.

"Enough!" The tall vampire commanded, but I didn't listen to him and continued to scream, I covered my eyes to block my view of him.

"Eric! She's terrified of you!" Sookie yelled over my screaming.

A cold hand covered my scream, muffling the sound and I threw my hands from my eyes, thrashing and clawing at the hand to let go. My eyes filled with tears, threatening to spill out.

"You are very annoying." The vampire mumbled down at me from his kneeling position on the floor.

I hissed something like, "Get your _filthy_ hands off of me, bloodsucker!" but the vampire kept his hand placed on my mouth. I began to feel lightheaded again, as if I were about to faint..._again._

The vampire above me smiled, showing his fangs and I whimpered trying to pull myself away from him.

"Eric! We'll go with you if you just let Keeley go." Sookie said lightly, looking at my terrified face with a frown.

"I rather like this fire hellion." The vampire smiled again ignoring what Sookie said and looking at me up and down. I shivered in disgust. He was handsome, yes, but he was also deadly and dangerous. And those terms did _not_ go well with me, especially if they included vampires.

I shook my head, as if to say _please don't like me_ and I felt tears spill from my eyes. Where the hell was my mother, and why the fuck wasn't she _doing_ anything? I pulled my face from his grasp again, and when he didn't let go I bit him until I felt his skin breaking.

He pulled his hand from my mouth with a small hiss, and looked down at his hand where it began to bleed, no doubt. When he looked up at me, I had a terrified expression on my face and I really wanted to gag at the vampire blood in my mouth. "I think I'm going to throw up." I gagged, and tried to sit up. But when the headache blossomed again, I saw a flash of silver behind my left eyelid and thought it best to lie back down.

"Ooh, I like her." A woman's voice cooed, and in my peripheral vision, just right behind the tall vampire I could see a well dressed woman. Who was, unsurprisingly, a vampire as well, "I like how she dresses too. Reminds me of a younger version of myself."

I shook my head and wiped at the tears with a fisted knuckle. "Please don't like me. I-I taste bad."

The woman vampire laughed, her voice a melodic tune, "Oh honey, that was cute. But Eric, we really must get going."

"Yes." The vampire _Eric_ looked down and me for a few seconds before standing up slowly. He looked over at Sookie and Bill, who were glaring at him, then at my mother, whose eyes widened, and he calmly left the room.

"This will not be the last time you see me, little hellion." I shivered, not liking how he said that.

The door closed, and my mother and I were left alone there. An awkward silence ensued, and I opened my mouth, but caught myself last minute before I said something stupid. _Vampire blood tastes gross._

"I would expect it to taste disgusting." _Did I say that out loud?_ I looked over at my mother and she smiled sadly at me, "I'm sorry, sweetie. For not stopping that vampire, but he looked so dangerous. I didn't want to do anything rash to get him angry."

I turned to my side, facing away from her and began to lightly sob. That was the most terrifying experience of my entire life. Sanguivoriphobia, or not, I couldn't shake the small spike of desire that I felt once he touched me. I looked up searched for a trash bin, and when I saw one in reaching distance I emptied my stomach contents into it.

"I _hate_ this town." I mumbled into the waste bin and retched again.

* * *

**A/N # 2: **Well, I rather think that chapter went well. Did'ja like it? Did you hate it? I'd like to know. Don't be afraid to review, they make me write faster. _Oh_, thanks to **Priestess of Dan**, **The Biggest Bugger**, and **WWEchica** for reviewing. Your comments made me smile. :D


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N #1: **Hey guys, thank you for reading my stories and for all the people who loved it, added it as their favourite or took two minutes out of their life to comment on it. I really appreciate it you guys. :) Alright, so I'm sorry if Keeley looks like a big crying mess in this chapter, but c'mon she has a fear of vampires people. In reality I'd be bawling too, if I was treated like this...Haha. Oh, and I have a very important authors note at the end of this chapter, so don't skip it. :D Yay, True Blood's on tonight! Did anybody giggle with glee in the last epi when Eric gave his blood to Lafayette? Haha, it _killed_ me.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own True Blood, nor Charlaine Harris' wonderful Sookie Stackhouse books, _or_ the wonderful characters. I'm purely going off on the show here. Also, I'd like to point out that I'm taking bits and peices from the show and spicing them up. **_Enjoy!_**

* * *

"Keeley, will you _stop_ looking out the window, it's starting to freak me out." My mother growled, pulling me away from our rented houses' window. I made a sound of protest, and pulled myself from her grasp.

"Mom, you _never_ know when a vampire can strike. I could be now!" I paused, and turned around to face her, "...Or now!" I turned back and glared at the darkness outside the window, but reluctantly moved away after I needed to use the bathroom. I all but ran to the washroom, using it for less than a minute, cleaned up and ran back to the window.

"Oh for Pete's _sake_, Keeley Elaine Destiny Pickens! Get _away_ from that window!" I cringed as my unfavoured middle names came up, and I left the window again.

A week had passed, and my mother and I found a small two bedroom fully furnished house and rented it for our long stay. I had earlier begged and begged my mother if I could return home, bringing up the fact that a vampire was after me, but she refused and ignored me.

I got myself a glass of water, and brought it to my bedroom and taking out a book from my suitcase, and got ready for my twenty minutes of relaxing time before I went to bed. The hard covered book in my lap was worn out, showing how much I had read it, and I opened the cover reading the scripted text on the first page, and ran my hands over it. _This book belongs to Mildred Kacher, so hands off!_

I couldn't even get two pages in, when a knocking sound came from my opened window. I got so startled that I fell out of my bed with a shout. "Ow," I groaned rubbing at my head where I had bumped it on the hardwood floor. _How many fucking times must I hit my head?!_

The knocking persisted, and I walked over to the window, and pulled open the blinds. I must've hit my head _too _hard and forgot everything that had happened last week, because as soon as I opened the blinds, the tall scary vampire was standing outside with a smirk. I screamed and flew back, hitting my back against the wall roughly and sliding down.

"Hello, little hellion."

"This isn't happening. Oh, my God. This isn't real, I-I'm just having a really bad nightmare, and I'll wake up _any_ minute now." I held my head in my hands and took in deep breaths.

"If you think this is a nightmare, then you are sorely mistaken. Invite me in." The vampire demanded, looking around my bare room.

"Like _hell_ I'm inviting you in!" I hissed, moving my hands around the floor to grab something to throw at him. When my hands caught at something, I hurled at his face with a yell.

Sadly, his reflexes were ten times faster and he caught the book before it hit his face. He looked down at the object, and opened the book. _My Grandmother's book._ I noted with wide watering eyes, and I began to crawl toward the window. "P-please, give me back the book. I'm begging you." I reached my hand out, but he pulled the book away from me.

"Give you back the book? Now, this very problematic because I seem to recall you throwing this book at my face and—"

"Will you just shut up, and give me back the book?!" I hissed, reaching out for it. Again, he pulled the book back with a serious face.

"I do not take people yelling at me lightly, little hellion. Yell at me again, and I will do something that I will not regret." He ended, and I felt a shiver of fear rip down my back and I whimpered, moving back until I hit the wall.

"What do you _want_ from me?" I weeped lightly, and he looked at me with an expressionless face.

"Oh, it's not me that wants you, little hellion. My companion wishes to meet you again, she is very persistent." I bared my teeth in anger, and glared at him through watery eyes. "_No,_"

"Then you will never see this book again." He turned to leave and my mouth widened in horror.

"_No!"_ I howled, shuffling on my knees to get closer to him, "_Okay_, okay. I'll go," I sobbed, clutching at the window sill and staring at him with pleading eyes. "Just promise me that I won't get hurt, or killed." I sniffled, and flinched when he appeared right in front of me, a small smirk on his face.

"Meet me by the front door. And if you are not outside in less than minute, I will rip this book to shreds." I scrambled to my feet, and hurried my way through the small one floor house, nearly slipping on my grey knee high fuzzy socks. I threw a light jacket over my pink cami and matching short shorts and flew out the door.

The vampire, I think Eric was his name, looked down at my attire and frowned, "Not that I am complaining, but would it not be wise to put shoes on?"

I looked down at my feet then up at him with a glare, "I only had _less _than a minute to get down here, asshole. The thought of putting shoes was_ clearly_ my first thought, not about the fact that _right _now, you are holding my most prized possession with your _filthy_ hands!" I nearly screeched, pulling at the ends of my long hair and baring my teeth at him.

His eyebrows went up a fraction, but his face was emotionless as ever, "Did I not make it clear to you that if you yelled at me again—"

"You would do something to me that you won't regret, yadda yadda. Can we just go? I'm scared shitless right now, and I tend to get really sarcastic when I am. So stop looking at me like that, and lead me to your car. I'm freezing." I only now noticed that I was shivering violently, either by fear or from the nice chill outside I couldn't tell.

He gave me a dark look that nearly had me pissing my in shorts, and turned around to leave, expecting me to follow him. I hesitated a few times, but then got the courage when I saw his hand gripping my Gammaw's book a little tighter. _I`m doing this for Gammaw. I`m doing this for Gammaw._ I recited over and over as I followed him to his car, trying not to psych myself out.

"Get in." He noticed me looking at the door handle of his sleek black car (I'm horrible with cars and their names), and I jumped at his voice.

"W-why didn't she just come here? You're not really going to do anything to me, are you? Because I assure you that I'd be a horrible vampire, I'd be afraid to look at my own reflection for Christ's sake. Not to offend you or anything, but I'd also be a horrible companion for your companion. I-I'd make you and her go crazy, and I really don't want to die. I'm only twenty-one, and I've never even made it to _third base_ with a man before so—"

"_Now._" One word was all it took for me to jump in the car with a whimper of fear.

I silently kept to myself in the car, the only noise was the humming of the engine, and my occasional sniffles. My Gammaw's book was safely returned to me and I hugged it tight to my chest. I was getting incredibly tired and my eyes kept on drooping shut, but I fought my exhaustion and just kept rubbing my eyes.

"We're here." Eric stated in an emotionless tone, and I couldn't help but flinch again before stumbling out of the car.

"H-hey! Wait, I _can't_ go in there!" I hissed, looking terrifyingly at the vampire club _Fangtasia_.

The vampire ignored me, and I was just about turn and run in the other direction when I saw a vampire make her way toward me. "Hello," She smiled at me, looking at me up and down, "Isn't this such a wonderful surprise, although it is terribly inconvenient that Eric didn't let you change. Come in, I will give you some clothes to wear."

"You're the companion aren't you? The one from Merlotte's? What do you want from me?" My vision swam, and I backed up when she advanced toward me.

"Just come inside. You don't want to get drained out here now do you?" The vampire raised her eyebrow and pursed her lips before walking away and I quickly followed her, looking paranoid as I swung my gaze all around me.

"My name is Pam," The vampire woman said, leading me through the bar and smirked when I convulsed in fear as the vampires around me watched us walking through.

Pam brought me to a small-ish office, and sat me down on the couch, "I'd like to offer you a deal."

My eyes widened, and my shaking hands stilled, "What _kind_ of deal are we talking about here? One where I have no choice in the matter, or the one where I get turned into a vampire? Because if that was the case, they both _really_ suck."

She raised her brow at me, "You really don't know how to shut your mouth, do you?"

"Frankly, I'm just trying to keep my sanity here. I have a feeling that if a vampire touches me _one more time_ I'm gonna blow a gasket. I fucking _hate_ vampires." I shiver in disgust and a dark-haired man in the corner of the room snorted.

"How _is_ it you came to be afraid of vampires, honey? Because we are quite sensual, and very interesting." Pam looked at her nails, a beautiful French manicure with diamonds, with a sigh.

"I have Sanguivoriphobia," Pam looked up from her nails with an enquiring expression, and the vampire from the corner moved closer. I sighed, "It's the fear of blood-eaters or vampires. I don't exactly remember how I got it, but the point is—is that I get scared when I see one."

"Well, honey, I'm right in front of you. You don't seem scared to me." Pam smiled, thankfully her fangs didn't appear and I relaxed slightly.

"You mean that there is a phobia for vampires?" The dark-haired vampire laughed loudly and I got annoyed.

"There is a fear for _everything_, dumbass. Including the creatures that are _supposed _to be mythical." I retorted haughtily.

In a matter of seconds I was pinned to the wall, the vampires hand around my neck squeezing with an incredible force. I began to bawl and gasp, scratching at the hand with my fingernails.

"Chow, let her go." Pam continued to examine her nails, seemingly careless for my well being and a bubble of panic coursed through me causing me to scream, and loudly.

"This _bitch_ called me a dumbass, and I am a _far_ cry from one." Chow growled squeezing harder, and I began to gurgle and gasp while screaming, the loss of air was so great that I quickly began to lose consciousness.

"Chow!" A voice commanded from the doorway, and Chow dropped me to the floor. I was at least a foot off the ground and I landed with a sickening crack on my knees. My body slumped to the floor and I took in deep lungfuls of air, coughing and hacking a few times. I then moaned in pain, clutching lightly at my neck where it throbbed, and continued to cry.

"She was pestering me Eric. She deserved it." Chow growled and Pam gave a huff of air.

"She just called you a _dumbass_, dumbass. I hardly see that as pestering you." I heard footsteps walking to me, and my cries got louder. Someone gripped my arm and hauled me up, pushing me to the couch where I curled up into a ball.

"Leave now, Chow. Go and keep an eye on the club." Eric stated in his unassailable tone. I heard a feral growl, but then the door slammed shut and everything was peacefully quiet, except for my wracking sobs and strident coughing.

"Pam, find her some tissues. She is blubbering all over the upholstery." Eric sighed, and I pressed my face harder into the cushion with a sob. "Stop crying, human. You are beginning to irritate me,"

I ignored him and sobbed louder, until I felt him grab my wrist and yank me up, "You will listen to me, and do as I say," His face hardened and I wailed harder. I heard him sigh, and he pushed me back onto the couch.

"Well, doesn't _this_ seem familiar?" Pam laughed loudly when she came back into the room. I heard something ripping, and a wad of tissues was shoved into my hand. I opened my eyes, and took one before blowing my nose loudly.

"This has nothing to do with Bill's newborn Pam. This one is_ much_ worse. At least I knew how to control that one." I saw Eric's blurred body sit down on a chair across from me, and I pressed a tissue to my eyes.

"I was talking about your problems with human girls, Eric. Not about how to control newborn vampires," I sniffled and hiccupped, slowly calming down when I didn't feel threatened anymore.

"Chow needs to learn how to control his temper," Eric stated while staring at my face and I frowned at him, hoping that my expression said something like, '_What happened to you promising me that I won't get hurt?'_

Pam laughed, "Right, and I suppose you don't?"

I tried not to smile, really I did, but Eric caught it and raised a brow, "Do you think this is funny?"

I tightened my eyes in anger, finally losing my mind and took a deep breath, "_No_, I'm just becoming delirious and crazy. Losing _fucking_ oxygen to the brain can cause cerebral hypoxia you know, and that can cause confusion or fainting or even death. I was just hanging two feet from the ground by a **completely** barmy vampire thank you _very_ much. _So excuse me for_ _thinking that this was funny!_" I screamed the last part to his face, and Pam burst out laughing holding a hand to her mouth and staring at me with laughing eyes. Eric stayed completely still, and I instantly feared that I was about to die a very, very gruesome death.

Eric leaned closer, and I leaned back with wide eyes, "I would watch that mouth of yours, Keeley Pickens. Because I can and will drain you until you are nothing but an empty, flaccid, husk."

My eyes rolled back, and seconds before I fainted I clearly remembered why I hated vampires so much.

—

I woke up from my fainting spell a few minutes later, and caught some of the conversation between Pam and Eric.

"Nice going Eric. I plan to make her my companion and you just upped her fear ten times more than it used to be." I heard Pam mumble, her high heeled shoes click-clacking on the ground. I tried to move my legs, but my knees gave a loud protest causing me to groan loudly and bury my face into the pillow.

"I did not know she would faint. I don't exactly know what it feels like to be human anymore, Pam." Eric returned, and it felt as if he was standing right next to me.

"Wake her up, I was supposed to tell her of my deal but she cut me off when she opened that big mouth of hers," Pam sighed, and she got closer to me.

"She has been listening to us for the past five minutes. Open your eyes, little hellion. I know you are awake," My eyes popped open, and I stared at Eric and Pam as they towered above me from the couch.

"What do you want from me?" I asked shakily, holding my hand to my chest.

"Your life of course," Eric smiled, and Pam zoomed toward me. The last thing I remembered was my screaming and the wet feeling of blood dripping down my neck.

* * *

**A/N #2: **Did they really change her?! Find out in the next chapter, muahaha.** Anyways**, this author's note is pretty important and it involves my stories. I won't be at my house for the next week or so, so I can't update or post any new chapters. I'm sorry for posting this so late, it's just I've been packing and getting everything ready for my trip. My family and I are going to spend a week in New York, and maybe go to Darien Lake (YAY!) so I'm really excited about that. I've been to New York before so it's going to be great to go again and actually _visit_ the Statue of Liberty (Ahem, _Dad_...). All we did was shop there, not that I'm complaining or anything (_Cough, cough. ;D)_

I'm hope you liked this chapter, and deem it worthy enough for a review. **Seriously guys**, they make me write faster (No joke).

A special thank you to: **WWEchica **(again, hehe)**, rebelwilla, B E R Y I L L I U M, slavetomyanger, lhd0429, mapomi, **and **xxDisturbedxxAngelxx** for reviewing! I love reviews. ;P (Ehh, I use too many smiley faces, my writing is starting to annoy me. :O Haha.)


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N #1: **Oh Bejesus, I'm sorry for not updating for a while. I've had a serious case of writers block (I know, excuses excuses), but now I'm back with a brand new chapter. Please don't hate me. :/

**Disclaimer:** I do not own True Blood, nor Charlaine Harris' wonderful Sookie Stackhouse books, _or_ the wonderful characters. I'm purely going off on the show here. Also, I'd like to point out that I'm taking bits and peices from the show and spicing them up. **_Enjoy!_**

* * *

"Ahhh, fuck." I groaned placing a hand to my head and squeezing my eyes shut. I tried to move my legs, but my knees gave a sharp jolt and I winced in pain.

"Uh..."

I moved up so fast my head spun a few times, and as soon as the spinning stopped I looked around the room. With a sob, I noticed that I was nowhere near the vampire club, and instead I was in an old stale-smelling house.

"I am terribly sorry for not getting there soon enough, but we luckily got there in time. Eric had no right to do that to you," Bill moved away from me and stood by Sookie. I ignored what he said and curled up into a ball while pressing my head against my knees, a relieved look on my face.

"Keeley, we need to know why they wanted to turn you," Sookie moved closer to me and I rubbed my hands up and down my legs and shook my head no. In the next moment, it felt as if someone was poking into my head. I whipped my head up and glared at Sookie, "Get the fuck out of my head!"

Sookie's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to retort but closed it when Bill touched her arm and spoke instead, "We just want to know how Eric got you to go to the club, Keeley."

"It's complicated. I don't feel like talking right now. Sorry," I lifted myself into a sitting position and looked at the both of them, "Would one of you be able to bring me to my temporary house, so I can pack my things and get the fuck out of this shithole?"

Sookie to a defensive stance and pointed her finger at me, "Bon Temps is _not_ a shithole," She defended, but changed her tone when I raised my brow, "Yes, it might have shitty people, and it's pretty small but it has _some_ endearing qualities."

"Oh?" I asked sceptically, rubbing the dark bruises on my knees, "Like what?"

Sookie looked troubled and looked at Bill, who shrugged, before answering, "We're way off topic here, so let's just start from the beginning. Why and how did Eric take you?"

"He didn't tell you anything when you rescued me? Oh okay, first he threatened me, then he ordered me around, followed by some more threatening, almost getting choked to death," I took in a long overdue breath, "And then I got _bit_ by a vampire, does that satisfy your curiosity?! Now will someone take me the _fuck_ home?!" By that point I was so sick and tired of vampires and crying, that I began crying because I couldn't _stop _myself from crying. God, I'm messed up.

"Alright, let's bring her back home Bill. She's been through a lot today." Sookie gently grabbed my arm and brought me to my feet. I staggered at first, but leaned against Sookie until she brought me to Bill's car.

"I want you to know that Bill and I are here, so if Eric tries to bother you again just call either one of us okay?" At my nod she opened the car door for me and I crawled in.

When I noticed that Sookie and Bill weren't getting into the car I paused and slowly climbed out of the car. While I looked over at them I heard snippets of their conversation.

"How did Eric find her so quickly?" Sookie questioned, making me lean forward to hear their conversation better. Thankfully, they didn't take notice of me listening in.

"I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with her consuming some of his blood. It might be in her system," At Bill's statement my eyes widened, but he continued, "This all seems odd, though. Why would Eric pay such attention to a human like this? Normally he is very indifferent toward humans. He tries to make as little contact with them as much as possible."

"Well, you saw the way he looked at her when he first met her at Merlotte's. It sickens me the way he treats women, or _any_one for that matter. He may be a thousand years old and a lot stronger than I am, but I will kill him if he so much as touches Keeley again." Sookie sucked in a deep breath when she finished her rant, she turned her head and caught me listening in. "Oh shit, you heard all of that didn't you?"

Probably looking like a deer in headlights, I looked at Sookie with an open mouth. Finally I blurted out, "I have vampire blood in me?"

"Well, it seems so yes." Bill started but when he saw my eyes widen even more he held his left hand up in a 'stop, don't freak out' gesture, "—But there's no need to overreact, because Sookie and I are going to do everything—"

"—Bill, I think she's going to..." At that point I didn't hear the rest of the sentence because I swiftly passed out.

—

I felt a cold compress being pressed onto my forehead and I instantly jolted up, struggled to have a breath and moved away from the person who held it. I was relieved when I saw that it was only my mother. She sighed and put the compress onto the small side table beside my bed. "Keeley, you have bruises and a bite mark on your neck. What happened to you last night?"

My eyes watered slightly, but I held them in and willed myself to keep myself together this time. "Uh, I ran into some problems that I'd rather not explain right now," I paused and looked around the room, noticing that the window was wide open, "Could you get me a glass of water, please? And close the window too?"

"Sure sweetie, anything you want." She left the room and I looked around for my purse to find my cell phone. My knees felt wobbly as soon as I stood, and it took me a few moments to gather my balance, but when I did I frantically searched around the room. After a few minutes of searching, I found it underneath the bed. I grabbed the cell, and dialled Hayley's number.

"_Hello?_" I heard Hayley's cheerful tone pipe up, causing the homesickness to come forth again.

With my back pressed against the bed, I slumped and sniffled out, "I'm in trouble Hay."

"_Keeley? What's wrong? What kind of trouble are we talking about here?" _Her concern made me feel so much better, because she was the type of person who took it into her own hands to help me with my problems, be it physically necessary or not.

"On a scale of one to ten, I'd say it was a ten." I shakily let out, causing Hayley to mutter some profanities.

"_Alright, uh,_" She paused and I pulled a hand through my hair, "_would you mind explaining this problem to me before I buy my ticket to Bon Temps to help my dire friend in need?_"

"Really Hay? You'd do that for me?" I pulled my knees to my chest and hugged them tightly, a smile tugging at my lips.

"_Of course I'd do it for you. You're my best pal, Kee. So, what's the problem?_"

"A vampire is stalking me, I've been nearly choked to death and one of them bit me." I put a hand to my neck, and felt for the two puncture wounds. I winced when I pressed a little too hard, and looked down at my fingers to see if I drew blood. I then noticed that Hayley wasn't saying anything at all.

"Hayley? You still there?"

"_You got bit by a vampire?_" Hayley gasped, and I heard a few squealing sounds on the other line.

"It wasn't willingly of course. Jesus, you sound as if you're thrilled by this." I felt sickened by Hayley's reaction and I couldn't help but get angry at her.

"_Well shit Keeley, I know you're scared of them but you happened to accomplish what I've always wanted to experience. Not even Claude will do that to me, and we've been dating for a few weeks now_—"

"—What?" I couldn't help but interject Hayley. "You're _dating_ a bloodsucker?"

"_I wouldn't call it dating exactly; it's more of a shaky friendship that confuses the hell out of me. I know you're not exactly tickled by this notion, but I want you to know that he makes me happy_."

"Screw you being happy, Hayley. The guy isn't even alive for God's sake, and you expect to be happy with an undead guy? If you plan on being with him, I might as well call you a necrophiliac." I snapped my cell phone shut and threw it across the room before taking in a few gasping breaths. I put my hand over my mouth and let out a tearless sob, feeling horrible for saying such a cruel thing to my best friend. I never get into fights with Hayley, and I feared that our friendship was starting to get a little rocky. My phone started ringing again and I ignored it. Instead I ran my fingers through my hair and left them there to tug at the roots of my hair while letting out a frustrated groan.

"Keeley?" I didn't notice my mother at the door, and it startled me when she called out my name.

"Yeah?"

She looked hesitant to say anything so I smiled lightly and stood up slowly, making sure I didn't cause anymore damage to my body. "Water?"

She put the water on my desk and looked at me, still hesitant to say anything but when I raised my eyebrows she turned around and left the room. With a sigh, I picked up my phone and looked at the messages Hayley sent. They mostly consisted of "I'm sorry" and "This fight is pointless" blah blah blah.

I turned off my phone and threw it behind me, but when I didn't hear a crash I turned around quickly to find that it had gone out the window, to which I remembered asking my mother to close earlier. Hesitantly I walked to the window, and moving my head slowly over the window I saw that it got caught in the flowerbox outside the window. I was honestly stuck on whether or not to get my cell phone. After a few minutes I gave up and just left it there and decided to get it in the morning, no way was I going to go near a window again.

—

I opened my eyes slowly as I woke up from one of my countless naps. I'd had three today and I found that I woke up to the same chilling dream that I had since I got back home. I dreamt that I was wearing really racy lingerie while dancing in front Eric. And right before I even touched him, I woke up. The first time I woke up from the dream I was really jittery and I struggled to breath, but now I woke up like I normally did. I found though, that as I was getting closer and closer to touching him, even though it was a dream, I was getting really impatient. The door opened and I jumped a little, blushing as if I was caught doing something bad. My mother walked in wearing a fancy white dress, and I furrowed my brows.

"Honey, when are you going to get out of that room? It's been a few days now, and my cousin is throwing a little Picken's get together tonight. I want you to wear something nice too. Oh, I know what you can wear..." She trailed off as she rummaged through my clothes in a small closet, that had once been in my luggage— all packed and ready to get out of this town, and picked up my sacred little black dress.

"Mom, a short dress like that won't bode well with Catholics or Christians or whatever hicks believe in. And I'm telling you now, if you wear a dress that short ever again I will be scared for life...again." I changed the subject quickly and tried to think of an excuse to not go.

"Oh come off it Keeley. That was a few years ago. I was drunk and I didn't mean to flash you. I thought you were Fred coming back for seconds."

At this comment, I threw my covers over my face and gagged, "Mom, that wasn't a flash. That was a full out peep show from Hell. My eyeballs imploded when I saw that."

"How many times can a mother say sorry? I apologised a million times the next morning. Now get changed and put this on."

I groaned as I forced myself to sit up and leaned against the head of the bed, "Mom, you know that dress has no back right?"

"Keeley, please don't do this. The party will be at my rich cousin Joseph's house. Sue said his house is reasonably sized for a town like Bon Temps, and she said every party he throws is a formal one. You know I haven't seen my family for a while, and I really just need you to cooperate with me on this. I haven't lost twenty pounds for nothing!" She said quickly all in one breath while putting her hands to her hips.

"Mom, you lost five pounds and I'm not going! I just had a really traumatic experience a week ago, and I'd like to be left alone!"

My mother glared at me, threw the dress on a nearby chair and left the room. A few minutes later, I felt extremely guilty for yelling at her, and possibly insulting her, but I didn't budge from my bed.

I heard the front door slam shut, and the rental car zooming down the road. I put my hand to my face, groaned, and finally got up, seriously considering going to the party or not. Scratching my head, my stomach gave a long grumble and I patted it with a frown. I looked over at the dress my mother threw on the chair and walked over to it.

I lifted the dress up and sighed. I haven't worn it since Hayley's birthday a few years back, and it was practically screaming for me to try it on. I just hoped to God it still fit me.

I slid on the dress and looked at myself in the mirror near the closet, with a large smile I noticed I had actually lost an inch or two off my waist.

"God, I love looking at myself in this dress." I noted to myself as I rubbed my hands over the lace sleeves. I turned around to look at my exposed back and sighed. I still thought it was way too racy to wear to a family party though.

I clenched my jaw and exhaled loudly, "Screw it, why the hell should I care what anyone thinks." And with that, I began to get ready for the party.

—

With the taxi driver, I think his name was Frank, staring at me in his rear view mirror; I couldn't help but pull my shawl a little tighter around me.

"So, why's a pretty girl like you going to the outskirts of Bon Temps?" Frank smiled, and I noticed that he was missing a few teeth.

I tried to be nice though, "Thanks, I'm actually going to my mother's cousin's house. I think his name is Joseph Pickens?"

"Joe Pickens? That vainglorious prick? Is he still cheatin' on sweet Suzanne Backer?"

"Sweet Suzanne Backer? You mean Sue? I...don't know." I was still a little shocked that he used vainglorious in a sentence. Honestly, he didn't seem like the type of guy to know words like vainglorious.

"It really pisses me off that sweet Suzanne first goes through a tough childhood, and then gets thrown into a tough marriage—"

"Shouldn't you be watching the road...?"

"—and then the guy has the nerve to throw fancy parties every year, and not—Holy shit!"

I screamed when the car swerved, as it tried to dodge something that ran in front of the car, unfortunately the car hit the thing and the next thing I knew the car tipped and began flipping. My body felt weightless, and it seemed as if everything was going in slow motion. I couldn't hear a thing, but I knew I was screaming. I had knocked my head on the window when the car tipped, and when the car finally stopped flipping, landing on its roof, I nearly threw up.

Miraculously, I was still conscious although my head was pounding like no tomorrow. I groaned loudly as my arms hung in the air. "Frank?" No answer.

"Shit," I gasped while trying to find the seatbelt clasp. "Frank? Frank can you hear me? If you can, try to move your body." Still nothing.

I began to hyperventilate, thinking of all the possible things that could happen. I started to struggle, flailing my body around to try to loosen the tight seatbelt.

"Oh God, somebody help me!" I screamed, but I knew it was useless. We were in the middle of frigging nowhere, and even worse there was an unconscious, possibly even dead person right in front of me. That made me even more hysterical, "Help! Please, somebody, anybody!" I screamed while flailing again.

"You need to stop getting into trouble, little hellion." At that moment, I thought I was hallucinating. I swore I heard Eric talking.

I screamed when the door was ripped open, and began crying when I saw Eric. _Oh thank God. I never thought I would think this but I'm actually glad to see him. _I paused sniffing, did I really mean that or did I smack my head that hard. I mulled over what I meant by what I thought as I hung there, upside down.

"Would you like me to get you out of there, or do you want me to come back later?" Eric noted with a monotone voice, and I looked over at him with a glare. He raised his eyebrow and turned to leave.

"Wait, wait! Sorry just..." I groaned, and the pounding in my head amplified. "Please can you help me out of here, I'm starting to get a little lightheaded."

Eric looked at me for a while before reaching in the car and yanking the seatbelt until the entire thing came off. I fell onto the Christmas coloured lights on the roof with a groan. "You could've caught me."

I looked up to see that he was gone. I crawled out of the car and looked around the place, but he was nowhere to be seen. I put a hand to my head and winced when I felt a sticky substance there. I pulled my hand away and looked down at it. Sure enough there was a crap load of blood there.

As I looked up though, Eric was looking down at me with pursed lips. I nearly jumped out of my skin. "Whatever hit you was fast. And judging by the dent on the car, the thing was huge."

"So you're saying that we didn't hit a deer?"

He continued looking at my forehead, "No."

"Well then what did we hit? Because if it was big and fast, and it wasn't a deer then what could it be?" I rubbed the back of my hand on my sweating forehead.

"You're acting unusually calm for just being in an accident." Eric noted and I shrugged while looking around the semi-dark forest. It was nearing dinner time and the sun had gone down, but it was still strangely light-ish outside.

"I've been in worse accidents than this." I murmured, bending down to wipe my bloody hand on the dirt. "Although, I do feel like throwing up."

"Are you bi-polar or something?"

I looked up at Eric with a glare, "I am not bi-polar. Why are you asking?"

He raised his brow, "Up until now, you couldn't look at me without screaming."

I blushed and looked down. It was because of the dreams I was having about him, I noticed. I've gotten so used to seeing his face that I wasn't as scared of him anymore. "I don't know."

"Or you don't want to tell me." I looked up quickly and watched as he smirked. "Isn't there someone else in the car?"

I gasped, "Oh sweet Jesus, Frank!" I ran to the car and climbed inside. "Frank, Frank are you okay?"

I pulled fruitlessly at the car handle until Eric ripped open the door like he did before. I moved my whole body in and looked for the seatbelt clasp. Once I unclipped it I pulled Franks body, which was abnormally light, out of the car and onto the street. "Frank? Frank wake up. I really don't want you to be dead. Even though I hardly know you, I'll remember you for being very—" Nice? Smart? Outgoing? "—lively."

I heard Eric breathe out a small laugh and I looked behind me with a glare. "Can't you see this man is dying or is possibly dead?! You could have a little decency, y'know."

"Yeah, except then he's rubbing himself on you." Eric remarked while pointing down at the man.

I didn't notice that Frank was rubbing his head across my breasts, and with a disgusted yell I threw Frank's head away from me.

"Thanks sweetie. I haven't gotten close to a woman's melons in a while" Frank smiled, missing teeth and all.

I pushed myself off the ground and clenched my teeth before yelling, "Pervert!" and walking in the opposite direction. I knew Eric was following me.

"I hate it when men take advantage of women. It's degrading and disgusting." I grumbled, limping as I lost my heel in the car somewhere.

Eric didn't say anything and continued walking a step behind me. There was a long bout of silence before I broke it. "How did you know I was in trouble?"

"I just did."

"I have some of your blood in me, don't I?" I looked back at him with a frown.

"Yes."

"I overheard Sookie and her vamp lover saying that once someone has vampire blood in them, the vampire can know wherever they are and shit. Is that true?"

"Considering what happened just a few minutes ago, I'd say yes."

"Why do you sound so monotone all the time?"

"Preference."

I stopped and looked at him, "Why me?"

He just looked at me, not saying anything. I continued, "Why are you helping me?"

"Pam wishes to have you as her new pet. She doesn't want damaged goods."

I scowled, "I meant why _you_ are here. You could've told Pam that I was in trouble, and she could have come to get me."

He didn't say anything again. "Asshole." I grumbled, trying to take off my other shoe without losing my balance.

Eric appeared right in front of me, nearly making me fall over. "Your attitude is infuriating me."

"Your stalking is infuriating me."

Eric turned and kept on walking, "Humans. Why do I even bother?"

I groaned and for the second time that day I felt guilty, "Eric," I started, he stopped and turned around, "look I'm sorry for biting your head off. It's just I'm used to being hostile toward vampires. I really appreciate you saving me today. Really, I do."

Eric looked at me, turned around and kept on walking. I tried to keep up, but he was too fast and I ended up in a light jog just to get beside him. There was no way I was walking back without him; the _thing_ that crashed into the car could still be out there.

"I'm—"

"Stop talking." Eric ordered, and I pursed my lips while looking down.

"Really I'm—"

"What part of 'stop talking' do you not understand?"

Frustrated, I rubbed my eyes with a clenched fist. It was going to be a _long_ walk home.

"This would all go faster if I was running." Eric mumbled, and I looked over at him with a piercing stare.

"You're not touching me. I swear I'll scream."

"Wasn't going to."

"Good."

"Fine."

* * *

**A/N #2:** Okay, um... a few days ago I figured out who I wanted Keeley to look like. But I won't post who she is on my profile. If you want to know what she looks like, just PM me or write it in the review that you want to know what she looks like. Oh, and the dress she's wearing too. It's to die for, I swear when I saw it I was like 'Oh, shit. I want you.' But alas, I cannot because my mother is so cautious with her credit card, and I'm still to young to get one. Grr. Again, SO sorry for not updating in a few months.

Special thanks to: **Anastacia Lynn**, **murgatroid-98**, **TrueBlood416**, **WWEchica**, **ericlover**, **xxDisturbedxxAngelxx**, **Myrna13**, **soihadadream**, **SylarLikesMyBrain**, **jessy**,** Silver Huntress2**, **Vampire Hunter D's Girl**, **lhd0429**, **soon2Bme**, **EatYourVeggies**, **Jiffie**, **dreamkitty26**, **AlixxandriaBarbieDoll**, **Magic's My Muse**, **random reader**, **SharkGurl**, **BakaProductions**, **Evelyn Simms**, and **Rhoddy **for reviewing. Sorry it took so long for me to update.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N # 1**: Yay! Another update! A little shorter than chapt 3, but s'okay. At least I updated. I hope you like it! Read **A/N # 2** at the end of this chapter. Something funny is there that you don't want to miss. :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own True Blood, nor Charlaine Harris' wonderful Sookie Stackhouse books, _or_ the wonderful characters. I'm purely going off on the show here. Also, I'd like to point out that I'm taking bits and peices from the show and spicing them up. **_Enjoy!_**

**P.S.** If you want to hear a song while reading, then you can listen to **Call My Name (feat. Tyler James)** by **Morgan Page**. You don't have to, if you don't want to. I was listening to this song while writing chapt 4. I love that song. :)

* * *

I watched precariously as my mother fell on her bad knees, apologising profusely for guilt-tripping me into going to the party. From my stoic face, she presumed that I wasn't talking to her anymore and promptly burst into a fit of tears that would outshine a newborn baby. Heck, even a dog's howl wasn't as ear piercing as my mother's wails. I covered my ears as she wailed louder, occasionally moaning an '_Oh, my poor baby'_ over and over again.

"Mom,"

I paused and nearly fell over when she attached herself to my legs, leaning on them and wiping her face against my kneecaps. "Mom," I tried again pushing her shoulder away as lightly as I could, despite being incredibly annoyed by her child-like behaviour. Jesus, _I'm_ supposed to be the immature one here. She shook her head and clung to me tighter.

I knew it. I _so_ knew it. I knew I shouldn't have called her as soon as I got home. I knew I should've kept this to myself, because now my mother won't ever let me leave her side again. It happened a few years ago, and _look at me now_. Twenty-one years I've lived with this woman, and I haven't had the chance to escape from her tight grasp.

She sniffled and hiccupped before looking up at me with red, puffy eyes, "I almost lost you once, and I promised that I would protect you until the day I died," She hiccupped and took in a few gasping breaths before continuing, "And tonight, I almost lost you again. I can't lose you Kee, I just can't. I'll die." This brought on more tears and I pulled away from her arms, opting to sit on the floor with her. I cradled her head to my chest and cooed soothing words to her until her cries turned into small gasping breaths.

I bit my lip and looked down at her shaking form before taking a breath and saying what I've needed, no wanted to say for the longest time, "Mom I know that I may be the clumsiest, most accident prone human on Earth, but you can't protect me forever. I'm not a little girl anymore." My mother sniffled and placed her hand over mine, "You need to realize that when something happens to me, I can take care of myself. Besides, I came out of the accident with only a few bumps and scratches."

My mother breathed out a weak laugh, "A few? Keeley, you have a big gash on your head. I wouldn't call that small. You're lucky you didn't get another concussion."

I laughed and remembered the last time I got a concussion. It wasn't that long ago either, maybe two weeks or so before we left for Bon Temps. It's actually a pretty funny story because it happened so quickly. This is how it went down: Hayley and I were going out to go to a friend's party. We were getting ready, making ourselves look gorgeous. In come these stunning Christian Louboutin pumps and I'm dying to wear them. Hayley says yes, I am euphoric. Skip a few hours later, and I'm drunk out of my mind. Hayley tells me to cool it with the vodka shots; I ignore her (I was told what I did, since I couldn't remember a thing when I woke up the day after) and continue with my drinking binge. I go for my eleventh shot, and as I'm about to chug it my ankle gives out and I conk my head on the table in front of me.

Thankfully the heels didn't break, or else Hay would've killed me and after that incident I haven't been able to go near vodka. Not only was I concussed, but I was extremely hungover and vomiting non-stop.

After reminiscing I looked down to notice that my mother passed out against my chest. I was only now registering the pain that her skull was inflicting on my left boob. I tried shaking her awake, which failed horribly, and then tried pushing her off of me. She slumped to the floor with a loud _smack_ and I sucked in a sharp breath. Thankfully she didn't wake up, but now I had the challenging task of bring her to her bed.

I stood up, studied which angle I should grab her from and decided to half drag her by holding under her arms. I made it halfway before wearing myself out and dropping her to the floor again. She still didn't wake up.

"_Mom_!" I yelled close to her face.

Nothing.

I poked her side.

Nada.

I blew in her face.

Nien.

I slapped her.

"Keeley!" She opened her eyes and I flew back, landing on my backside roughly and letting out a pained groan. _Well, at least she's alive, _I thought with a sour expression.

"Oh! I'm so sorry I startled you, but you didn't have to slap me. I would've woken up if you shook me..."

I looked at her and abruptly started to laugh, despite the searing pain on my backside. She looked confused before letting a small smile peak through. "What is so funny, Keeley?" My mother groaned, "Why does my back hurt?"

I continued to laugh, "If I told you, you'd kill me."

—

I stood there, presumably shocked, but inside I was fuming at what my mother just told me. Hayley was here, and she brought the _bloodsucker._ And _it_ was staying at my house.

My mom told Hayley of my near death experience, and of course Hayley freaked out which led her to take a plane straight here. What got me angry was the fact that my mother let Hayley and the _bloodsucker_ to stay here. In the house. With me in it.

"I'm confused. You're going to let the _bloodsucker_ stay here, with me here. Did it slip you mind that I'm terrified of vampires? Or, do you just really hate me and is doing this to spite me?" I glared while she looked at me innocently.

"This is ridiculous. Keeley, you don't have a fear of vampires. It's all in your head."

All in my head? _All in my head?! _"Mom, are you forgetting the fact that _I almost got killed by one!?_" I wasn't talking about how Pam and Eric wanted to change me, but it was the whole reason I was terrified of vampires. The 'man' that tried to kill me was a vampire. I am one hundred percent sure he is.

"Keeley, that man wasn't a vampire. He's in jail, very much a human, and very much the sickest man in the universe."

I decided not to argue with my mother, but got up from the couch and stomped (like the child I am) all the way to my room, slamming the door.

Not even twenty minutes into my fuming, someone knocked on my door. I threw my covers over my head and pretended to be asleep.

"Kee?"

I heard Hayley's voice and it nearly brought me to tears, her voice sounded so scared and child-like.

"Kee, I know you're mad at me and you may not want to talk to me ever again... I just want to say that I'll always be here for you, even if you hate my guts. You're my best friend, and I felt like I betrayed you by falling in love with the only man that makes me so exhilaratingly happy."

I sniffed and threw the covers off of me, then proceeded to squeeze her until my arms hurt. "I'm so sorry. I hate getting into fights with you. I never meant any word I said. It's just that I was a little emotional when you called me. I mean, I was nearly turned into one—"

"—It's okay, Kee. You don't have to explain anything." I just nodded and hugged her tighter.

"Your mother told me that staying in a hotel was not a good idea, so she told us to stay here for a few days until we could find somewhere to stay. So we won't be in the house long. Claude is a wonderful man, and I was so happy when I met him. He makes me feel so...alive."

I snorted, "That's really funny. What with him being dead and all."

Hayley glared at me, "He wouldn't be able to talk, let alone pitch a tent if he was dead."

...

"You did _not_ just say that." We both burst out laughing, and both of us fell to the floor.

The door swung open and a tall, handsome man zoomed in, pausing at the door when he only saw us laughing. His face turned from concern to unsure amusement. "Are you girls alright?"

"We're fine, Claude. Go finish unpacking."

"Yeah, bloodsucker. Go finish packing." I managed to hold amusement in my voice when I spoke and Claude even held a small smile in my direction.

Hayley was another matter. She just looked at me, her face held a look of pure confusion. I looked back, an amused look on my face.

"What?"

"You're not afraid? Your mother told me that you fainted when you saw a vampire at that restaurant."

I shrugged, unsure what was wrong with me as well. "I don't know."

"It's that vampire isn't it?!" She pointed her finger at me and I looked at her in shock, "It is! I knew when your mother told me that a _male_ vampire saved you, that it was the vampire that was stalking you. I _knew _it. You're starting to like him." She finished with an air of smugness that made her practically glow.

"Shut up," I hissed, looking up at the bloodsucker in the room whose face held amusement, "I don't like _any _vampires. I admit that some of them can be nice, but I'm still terrified of them."

"You shut up. You like him."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No."

"Yes."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yah-ha!"

"NYET!"

"DA!"

While we were arguing Claude was joined by my mother at the door. I heard Claude say something like, "Do they do this a lot?"

And my mother replied in an off-handed tone that we did this all the time and couldn't be stopped.

We both looked at my mother with a glare and said, "Shut up."

—

I can't believe I agreed to this. I must've been incredibly stupid to have agreed to this. Honestly. I can't fish. I've never been fishing before, and I had hoped to never go. But here I am, sitting in a fishing boat going down some river that I've never hear of.

"Y'all know that there are Asian carp in these rivers, right?" My cousin Jim-Bob or whatever the fuck his name was said, his yellow-stained teeth making its grand appearance before my eyes. I tried not to stare, but _damn_ those chicklets were nasty.

"Asian carp?" I questioned, for some reason I began to fear for my life.

"Yeah, those suckers'll jump eight feet in the air. They can break human bones I was told."

"Keeley, I'm not sure this was such a good idea after all." Hayley murmured, clutching her fishing rod so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"Didn't I tell you that an hour ago? But _no_ you just _had_ to go fishing. I-I'll bet you a thousand dollars that one is going to kill me today." I looked around me frantically wishing that I wasn't here at the moment.

"Ya'll are bein' ridiculous. I haven't seen a Silver Carp jump out of the water in a while. So quit yer worrin'." His accent was ridiculous. I tried to comprehend what he was trying to say, but I only got a few words in.

The boat started to slow down and I pried my fingers from the fishing rod, I too was clutching onto it tightly. "Alright, wer at my favourite spot so y'all can stop lookin' so worried and just fish already."

Hayley looked as if someone was about to kill her, and I had my eyes closed wishing that I wasn't here, in this boat, with deadly jumping fish in the waters. But I grew some balls and put a worm on my hook.

"Alright, I can do this..." I trailed off and prepared to cast when there was a loud _thump_ sound at the bottom of the boat. Hayley let out a loud squawk and let go of her fishing rod to clutch onto my waist, nearly causing me to drop my fishing rod into the river.

"What the _hell_ was that!?" Hayley squeaked her face held a horrified expression as her eyes shifted from left to right.

"Most likely some driftwood that got caught under the boat. Could be anything, Hay. Now let me go. You're starting to act like a pansy. _You_ were the one who wanted to go fishing. Not me."

"That was before I heard about the killer fish, Kee. Shut up."

"You shut up."

"_You_ shut up!"

"Both of you shut up! Jesus, ya'll are acting like a bunch o' five year olds."

We both shot him a glare and he looked away quickly with an innocent look.

Hayley reluctantly let go of my waist, but sat there motionless while her eyes shifted back and forth again.

"Will you stop doing that? You're freaking me out." I hissed at her, she jumped and let out a small squeak before pointing in front of her.

"There! I saw something silver jump! Oh my God, I'm going to die!" She huddled into a small ball and whimpered.

"That was just your imagination. Jesus, you are so sensitive. It's just a—" I screamed when a fish flew into the boat, landing right beside me and flipping around wildly. I stood up, causing the boat to rock and Hayley jumped up as well making the rocking even worse. My cousin started to shout, but I couldn't hear anything he was saying because another fish flew into the boat, smacking into my hand in the process and I squeaked in pain. _Jesus_ did that ever hurt.

"Ah-ouch!" I held onto my hand, and looked over at Hayley who was jumping around everywhere as a fish was flopping near her feet. "I think we should head back now." I yelled over Hayley's screaming. I saw my cousin nod before starting the engine.

"Your friend needs ta sit down before I can start moving, Keeley." Hayley continued to jump around and wail, so I pulled her down near me. She pushed the fish away with her shoe with disgusted sound.

"You're such a baby." I murmured to Hayley and she looked at me with a glare. "Shut up, Keeley. I'm emotionally scarred now."

"At least you didn't hit by one!" She looked down at my hand, which was fire engine red and winced.

"Shit, Kee. You got hit by one?" My cousin gave a curt laugh and shook his head, "Ya'll need to relax. I heard of this one kid, who got hit in the face while tubin' and his jaw broke. Kid had ta have jaw surgery."

I winced and shivered. I saw Hayley do the same and pull at the life jacket she wore. I didn't want to touch the fish, currently not moving, on the floor so I just prodded them away with my foot and tended to my throbbing hand.

We were maybe ten minutes to where we parked near the shore when something unfortunate happened. I just so happened to be in the front of the boat, the boat isn't that large, and we were going at a pretty fast pace when an Asian carp decided to make an appearance. Unbeknownst to me I turned my head and the fish flew into my face. I'm not talking a light slap here, it was a full on blow to the face and I fell into Hayley. She screamed and I could literally see the birds flying around my head.

"Oww!" I held my eye, the throbbing sensation intensified when I prodded it with my finger. "Goddamn, why the hell is it always _me_ that ends up getting hurt!? God, do you have something against me or something!?" I screamed at the sky, clutching my right eye. I swear that someone is spiting me. Maybe it's my dead Grandma who hated me, and is doing so out of malice.

"Kee, are you alright?" Hayley yelled at me, and I nodded. She let out a sigh of relief. My head was in her lap and I lifted my hand away from my face. Hayley winced and bit her lip. "Keeley, it's already turning purple."

"Great, this is just great. Now everyone will laugh at me when I tell them a fish slapped me in the face."

I could see that Hayley was trying to hold in her laugh, but she failed and let a giggle slip. _God_, I hate her so much.

—

"Keeley!" My mother gasped, grabbing my face in between her hands and leaning closer to me. "What happened to your face?"

"...a fish hit me." I mumbled, looking down. Thankfully the bloodsucker wasn't awake yet, but that didn't spare me the embarrassment.

"What? I can't hear when you mumble like that." My mother persisted, and I pinched my lips together.

"She said a fish slapped her in the face, Ms. Pickens." Hayley walked in, taking a bite from the hotdog she purchased while we were on the road. She had a big grin on her face, as she looked from my mother to me.

My mom sucked her lips in as if she was trying to hold in a laugh, but her eyes held amusement so I knew that she wasn't going to comfort me. "This is what, your fiftieth injury since you got here? I hope you're not concussed sweetie. I wouldn't know what to say to the doctor." She had traces of laughter in her voice, like she was about to burst out laughing at any moment.

"Say that she got into a fist fight with a flying fish." My mother and Hayley promptly burst out laughing.

Peeved, I tugged my head away from my mother's grasp and stomped to my room. "No one better follow me in. Just call me when dinner's ready." I slammed my door, but I could still hear their bouts of laughter.

"Bitches." I muttered, falling onto my bed and attempted to fall asleep.

—

I woke up to find that my eye was still aching and that my hand was still throbbing painfully from having slept on it. I groaned and moved onto my back, looking at the ceiling forlornly. I had another dream about Eric. Except this time he was the one dancing and I was the one that looked hot and bothered. He wasn't wearing anything besides a pair of tight fitting boxer shorts and—

"Am I interrupting anything?"

I gasped looked over at the window to see Eric standing there with a smirk on his face. I looked down to see that my hand had wandered into my shorts and I pulled them out quickly. "N-no. I was just..." I trailed off when his smirk grew into a smile.

I sighed and laid back down to stare at the ceiling again, "What do you want, Eric?"

"You got hurt again." Great, another person to laugh at my misfortunes.

"Yeah, I got hurt again." I prodded the black eye and with a wince I looked over at Eric who was staring at me with this weird expression.

"Pam wishes to see you again." It was very straight to the point and I found myself laughing lightly.

"You find this funny?"

"No, it's just that I'm all beaten up and useless and Pam still 'wishes' to see me again?" I laughed even harder and clutched my stomach. "I'm not leaving here. Last time I left with you, you guys nearly turned me into a vampire. So, no thank you."

"Is there another vampire in this house?" I looked over at him in surprise.

"Yeah, there is. Why?" He pursed his lips and turned to leave.

"It wasn't my idea, you know. He's my friend Hayley's boyfriend." I wasn't sure why I cleared that with him, but it felt as if I was betraying him or something.

"How did you get the black eye?" I paused to think about what I was going to say before I lifted myself off of the bed and padded to the window.

I leaned down so I was face to face with him with only a few inches between us, "A fish flew into my face." With that, I slammed the window shut and closed the curtain.

_You like him_. A nagging voice in my head giggled.

"Shut up." I muttered to myself before falling back into bed and falling into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

**A/N # 2: **Hey, peeps! It's fun to update relatively quickly, non? N-E-ways. I enjoyed writing this chapter. Sorry there wasn't a lot of Eric. I promise the next one will have a BUNCH of Eric scenes. Ooh, I'm excited to post it. :P Well, I still have to write it. But I don't think it'll take a long time. Oh, I forgot that this chapter was heavily influenced by an article I read on yahoo (no personal experiences here...) I hope you had a good laugh, I know I was amused when I wrote this. Don't forget to review! :D

If you want to see the video of the deadly Asian Carp, then go to youtube and type up "Shawn Mahler gets attacked by flying carp" for a short video. Haha, watch the Grandpa sitting and just...staring at nothing. So cute. :P

And if you want to see a reporter getting attacked by an Asian Carp then go to youtube and type up "That Will Leave A Mark - asian carp". So funny. Skip to about 1:50 if you don't want to watch the whole video. And trust me, the fish look terrifying.

If you've ever experienced jumping Asian Carp, then please tell me. I'd love to hear about it. :)

Special Thanks to: **SharkGurl**, **TrinityIsis**, **tainted-angel21**, **Tsumi**, **cosmicwishes**, and **Jiffie** for reviewing. I loved all of your comments! :D

**GRRR! **Fanfiction won't let me hyperlink. Any idea how to fix my problem? I ususally never hyperlink, so this is getting me pretty mad. :(


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